Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit SATURDAY, MARCH 27, 1945. CLOSE WATCH KEPT

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 68, Issue 141, 27 March 1948, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit SATURDAY, MARCH 27, 1945. CLOSE WATCH KEPT

There does not appear to be unanimity in the House of Commons in \regard to the Government’s decision not to employ anyone known to be a member of the Communist Party in work “vital to the security of the State.” The heads of all Government departments have been instructed to give immediate effect to the decision, but some Labour back-benchers have tabled a motion criticising the Government for introducing ideological tests for civil servants. The action taken by the Government is the outcome of recent events outside the country, and will be 'welcomed by most people. On information available from reliable sources, >.t would appear that Communism is numerically weak in Britain, but a number of important industrial posts are held by members of the party. The position was exactly the same in Czechoslovakia, and the world knows what happened there. The number of enrolled members of the British Communist Party is variously estimated to be as low as 10,000 and as high as 46,000. Even if the numbers were 50,000, this would be a mere drop in the bucket compared with the 7,540,397 members .of unions affiliated with the Trades Union Congress. At the last general election the Communists polled only 102,780 votes out of 25,064,072. They have two seats in the House of Commons out of 640. (In France the Communists hold 183 seats out of 618 in the National Assembly.) In the London County Council elected in. 1945 only two places went to Communists compared with 90 Labour seats, 30 Conservative and two Liberal. At the recent municipal elections the Communists were the only party to lose seats without gaining one here or there. Such a short summary of the numerical strength of the Communists—showing as it does the movement in Britain, on the political side at least, is a feeble thing compared with the massive membership and electora! following of the French and Italian Communist parties—might at first glance make the gravity of recent warnings by British Labour leaders against the Communists appear exaggerated. It is clear, however, that Britain is determined not to be caught asleep. The economic situation demands the closest scrutiny of anything which might upset efforts being made for complete and speedy rehabilitation. Action has been taken in regard to the civil service, and it would not hurt to extend it» to some of the present members of the House of Commons.